SEEKING INCREASE TO SAFE, LEGAL CARE
REMOVING BARRIERS TO CHOICE

Tuesday, our nation marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the historic U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing early abortion. This landmark ruling affirmed that the constitutionally protected right to privacy includes every woman’s ability to make her own personal medical decisions, without the interference of politicians. Four decades later, a majority of Americans still agree with the high court.

Polls show that the majority of Americans support access to safe and legal abortion in some or most cases. A Quinnipiac poll taken in February 2012 found that nearly two-thirds of American voters support Roe v. Wade, with only 31 percent disagreeing with the decision. A postelection poll from the Pew Research Center found that 64 percent of voters under 30 think abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Last November voters also made it clear that they are opposed to policies that demean and dismiss women. They rejected some of the nation’s most vocal and extreme opponents of safe and legal abortion. Despite the outcome of the election, politicians continue to focus on banning or chipping away at abortion access. In state after state, legislators have put forward bills that seek to limit a woman’s ability to make her own decisions about her pregnancy.

The good news is that here in California we are writing a different story. Our state has a long history of supporting women’s health and access to reproductive health services, including abortion care. Yet even in California, 50 percent of our counties do not have an accessible abortion provider. Women in rural counties sometimes have to travel hundreds of miles to obtain abortion services and in urban areas, the lack of providers means long waits and delays in care.

To protect their health, women must have access to safe, legal abortion services, as protected by the highest court. Many remember a time when abortion was illegal and countless women were injured or killed by illegal, unsafe abortion. Before abortion was legalized, entire hospital wards were filled with women senselessly harmed by illegal abortion. We know that access to abortion care protects women’s lives and their health.

A women’s health coalition that includes Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, Access Women’s Health Justice, and NARAL Pro Choice America will be sponsoring legislation in 2013 to improve access to early abortion services in California. The legislation will increase access by broadening the types of health professional who can provide early abortion services. These advanced, trained health professionals include nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and physician assistants. Authorizing them to provide early abortion services removes barriers and allows trained clinicians to provide services in communities that need them.

Every day San Diego health care providers work to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and keep women healthy. Women should have accurate information about all their options regarding pregnancy. Ultimately, decisions about whether to choose parenting, adoption, or abortion must be left to a woman, her family, and her faith, with the counsel of her doctor or health care provider.

Kish is an attorney and chair of the San Diego Coalition for Reproductive Choice.